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Candlemas – the Presentation of Christ in the Temple

The story of the Presentation of Christ told in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 2.22–38), is one in which Anna and Simeon have a senior moment to die for – they are privileged to see the one who is to be the Saviour of the world.

Usually when we talk about having a senior moment, it’s a rather rueful reference to memory failure. It’s one of the kinder ways in which we refer to the business of growing older. Our society isn’t always as kind when old age is under discussion. There are hints that old people pose a problem: pension funds won’t last because old people are living longer; there are concerns about funding care for those who are unable to look after themselves, or finding people to do the caring.

This gospel story is about two old people who show some of the positive attributes of old age. They represent wisdom and simplicity, and offer us some helpful ideas about using our later years.

First, it’s worth thinking about wisdom. There are others in the Christmas story, those visitors from the East who play a much more prominent part, whom we call wise. But a more accurate name for the Wise Men is ‘Magi’, marking them out as scientists of their time, discovering the secrets of the stars. Their ‘wisdom’ was perhaps more the cleverness of people who had a lot of knowledge in their heads, rather than the wisdom of the heart which brings insight into human behaviour. When you think about it, the Magi caused quite a lot of trouble with their cleverness, by jumping to conclusions about where the one who was to be the King of the Jews would be found. It’s reasonable to think first of the ruler’s palace: but such a birth would only be the cause of rejoicing if the child were the first-born. Herod already had a family which was torn apart by jealousies and intrigues. If the Magi had researched more widely, they would have discovered how much the Jews hated Herod and all he stood for. Then they might have approached their search for the new-born king rather differently, and avoided the problem that Herod could only deal with by murder. It wasn’t very clever, let alone wise, to go to Herod.